Birthdays: All Wrapped Up

I was at a friend's third birthday party on Sunday - a fabulous party featuring oodles of fantastic kids, scrumptious food, very lovely adults, delightful hosts, and a glass of refreshing prosecco after my morning of meringue baking :-)

Anyhoo, my point is, the star of the day was the toilet roll.

Somewhere online, in some discussion group on party games, the game of Mummy was set out. It's a Ronseal-kinda game. We had two volunteers (in bunny ears), who assumed patient, bemused stances as we set about wrapping them up to create some Mummies.

The wrapping was only half of it. The hulk-esque breaking out was fun too, and then there was the wallowing in the debris. Which led to a game of Zombies ('must...eat...children...') and various other hi-jinks.

When it was time to sing happy birthday, a trio magically formed (cello, violin, mandolin) to lead us in. (I realised that I hadn't heard live informal music since Baltimore - it adds so much to a gathering.) Birthday songs shifted to Christmas carols, which were going strong as I took my leave.

Singing, dancing, good conversation... but that toilet roll mayhem just stole the show. Recommended for any party!

Thanks to K & K for being such sparkling, gracious & thoughtful hosts. And to the darling Birthday Boy - thank you for a wonderful afternoon :-)

Inching back to Catching up

Well, it's been a while since regular contact. Settling into Dublin took a while, and the last few weeks have been pretty full-on, but it looks like I have a reasonably predictable schedule now, and I reckon I'm ready to be back on the air :-)

So, I'll pick up back at the RDS Craftey Fair, for all those Craftey Folk of Ireland. Which of course involves the lovely Sharon Rose, her ever-inquisitive daughter and her multitude of creations. Even without the weather, it was an exhausting timetable (10am-10pm). It was a week of Nosey Rosie, being snowed in/out, rearranging the stand, and hosting hot ports for the West Cork contingent of the Fair :-)

The weather was, needless to say, against us, but people made it through the ice and snow. Adults came to chat about wool, try on hats and shrugs (mine was almost bought off my back), ooh over wellies and ask if the fleece dresses came in adult sizes. Zillions of hats sold. And the children, fascinated by textures and colours and magnifying glasses, kept us on our toes :-) Tonnes of good feedback, for the Ladies Knitwear and for the Nosey Rosie range.

All of which left us very very tired. The hot ports helped, as did fabulous contraband coffee and savage sausage rolls. We took occasional breaks, scoping out things to buy or swap (I spent my time coveting a blue glass mobile, hung from a gorgeous curved piece of wood from a 9th century graveyard). The weekend went by in a blink, and Sunday night we packed up the stall, tidied up the remnants of felted wool, hoped against hope that we might get our cars out of the car park...

And then there was a gorgeous meal (thanks, Sharon!) and home, and rest for us both.

Just reading that back, I can feel the tiredness again! However, I'm into a new week, with a new To Do list, which is gradually shrinking.

Yep, at the moment it's all about baby steps. Nice to be back :-)

Weathering the weekend

I made a pun!! Chuckle chuckle...

Photos begin on Friday night, when I volunteered at the Food & Wine show. I was working on a charity stall when - amid the purveryors of artisan delights - Mr Tayto himself processed through the RDS :-)

Pretty manky conditions leaving Dublin: sloooow, snowy drive. Beautiful skies though. Once arriving in (a sunshiney) West Cork, it was Catch Up Central. Long conversation with my lovely host - all warmed by firelight - then out for pizza & beers with friends. At one point during the archetypal evening I said 'I feel like I never left!' and a friend said, 'Sure you never really did'. Little sigh. Gorgeous evening.

(Hope the photo selection is okay, Bushes Folk: I went for blurry-but-atmospheric...)

Anyhoo, Sunday began with the perfect porridge, and visitors over breakfast (thanks for the treaty delivery, G&Co.!), then on for more visits and coffees and more treaty things. From wood-turning to knitwear to copperwork - the place is chock-full of talented folk working marvels in their studios!

And then, with one final coffee, it was time to say goodbye to the village. On to Clon, to spend the day with friends, one of whom was appearing in the final night of 'Hairspray'. Lovely day, brilliant night - the young cast had us in tears with their thanks. Then a late glass of wine, as we contemplated the snow that was falling fast, and sticking...

'I should be in work by early afternoon,' I had said. Maybe that was true, in Krayzee Optimistic Land...

Monday morning, with schools closed and buses cancelled, it looked like we'd be snowed in for the day. I figured I'd give it a go, and cautiously set off (thanks for excavating the car, Imy!).

Not the most pleasant of drives, but do-able.

Thanks to my fabulous hosts this weekend X

And now, life is all about the Flumping :-)

Soul Food

A sisterly evening: my sis and I had a cinema to ourselves. It was like being in Madeira! Man, did we laugh loudly.

Ah, I do love the indulgence of popcorn for dinner. Okay just kidding - the *nachos* were for dinner; the popcorn was just a snack...

Just dropping in

Work done, kitties snuggled, jigsaw progressed (I bought a jigsaw to show faith that someday my table would be cleared: Klimt's The Kiss - eight pieces down, about a buhzillion to go...), salsa salsa-ed (*without* punching anyone in the eye, I might add), and now I'm preparing a little pre-bedtime flump and wondering: Is there such a thing as too many wasabi peas?

Anyhoo, I may have a TeenyTinyBeer while I ponder that one...

All wrapped up

Can't think of what to give this Christmas?

Load-bearing Walls

The Genocide Prevention folk at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum recently travelled to Sudan to 'bear witness'; there's a major referendum coming in January 2011 which could mean, well, just about anything for the ravaged country.

Anyhoo, the trip itself and its findings are well documented over here. The Museum also organised a night-time exhibition of photos taken in Sudan. They projected the images onto the exterior walls of the museum, which had a striking effect: this centre for genocide prevention becomes demarcated by the people of Sudan.

You can see the photographs in two online galleries:
Our Walls Bear Witness: Sudan at the Crossroads, Part I

Our Walls Bear Witness: Sudan at the Crossroads, Part II

And see a snippet of the evening here:


Potent, and timely :-)

And speaking of timely...

Back to birthday wishes on the blog... a sure sign of life returning to normal! :-)

Saturday at ExchangeDublin

Unpack, flatpack, snoozarama...

Anyhoo, here's a couple of pics from a charity event I helped with on Saturday. My sister had loaned us a beautiful painting, which added a certain numinous quality to the space.

Among the attendees was Dr Lydia Foy, who's the LGBT person of the year. She won a landmark case earlier this year when the High Court found that one of Ireland's laws was 'incompatible' with the European Convention on Human Rights. Well, technically, the High Court's finding dates from 2007, but the government finally dropped its appeal this year, and set up an inter-departmental committee on the legal recognition of transsexuals.

Lydia brought her case in 1997; it was a long, long road. (Link to the breaking news article in the Irish Times).

Anyhoo, the laydee has a great energy. And she plays a mean harmonica :-)

Back on the air - new home

Well, the Getting Settled process has kind of stopped and started, as charity work took priority for a bit. I'm nearly there now (apart from finding a perfect sofa - my big task for this week). Kitties are gradually getting used to the place (I think a sofa will help restore their curled-up-cosy routine).

Having lived in a big suburban-type house while in teeny Baltimore, I'm now in a teeny cottage in the midst of Dublin. I was looking out at the cityscape getting a sense of the area, and noticed a big building close by.

Which, it turns out, is the place where I was born :-)

And life here is feeling very snuggley indeed.

Art of the Dead

On this Day of the Dead, a short film of an art exhibition in the Oakland Museum of California. Interesting range of approaches, from organic and earthy to glossy plastic.



Both charity and writing work went well today. And there were conversations with friends that warmed the soul :-)